VIRGINIA BEACH -- Alexis Platt (Virginia Beach/Princess Anne) knows no fear.

The 5-foot-7 Virginia Wesleyan College rookie simply disregards much taller players who attempt to keep her away from the basket.

VWC fans saw her determination again on Saturday as she scored a game-high 14 points, netting many of those points after driving to the basket against taller Guilford College players.  Two of her drives came late in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference game and resulted in four points in 61 seconds, helping to pull the Marlins with a 47-41 score against the Quakers with 6:57 remaining to be played.

Unfortunately the Marlins comeback stalled there as Guilford, the two-time defending ODAC champion, outscored VWC 12-5 to pull out a 59-46 victory at the Jane P. Batten Student Center.

Guilford (16-5, 8-4) recorded a split in the season series with VWC (13-8, 7-5), which pinned a 56-52 setback on the Quakers when the team met for the first time on Jan.11.  Virginia Wesleyan's effort in the rematch was noteworthy, as the Marlins played without leading scorer Brittany Glasco (Fredericksburg/Massaponax) for the third straight game.  She was sidelined after suffering a concussion against Bridgewater College.

But, even without Glasco, the Marlins stayed within striking distance of the Quakers, and their senior twin towers in 6-foot-1 Gabby Oglesby (Winston-Salem, N.C./Mount Tabor) and 6-2 Morgan King (Teachey, N.C./New Hanover).  Virginia Wesleyan battled to a 20-all tie with 6:27 remaining to be played in the first half, before Oglesby started scoring in close to lead Guilford to a 32-24 lead at halftime.

Timely scoring by junior Nancy Kelly (Phoenix, Md./Dulaney) and sophomore Kelly Jones (Ellicott City, Md./Mt. Hebron) combined with a pesky defensive effort by the Marlins to pull VWC within a 32-28 score early in the second half.  Guilford, which turned the ball over three times in those early minutes, did not score in the second half until Brittany Drew (Greensboro, N.C./Page) hit a triple with 16:08 remaining to be played.

The Quakers went on to ope up a 44-30 lead at 11:22, but could shake off the Marlins.  Jones and junior Kerri Taylor (Stockport, England/The Hill School, Pa.) ripped through back-to-back triples to cut the Guilford lead to a single digit.

Oglesby hit one of two free throws seconds later, but after that neither team could get the ball to drop in a three-minute span. That's when Platt started to do her thing for VWC, driving to the basket to draw fouls and score points.  The Marlins outscored Guilford 5-2 in a minute to cut the gap to 47-41 with 5:56 showing.

Logan Hardin (Climax, N.C./Providence Grove) and Anais Weatherly (Winston-Salem, N.C./Mount Tabor) came through with key scoring for Guilford, as the Quakers expanded their lead to double-digits for the rest of the game.

VWC was hampered by a lack of rebounding through the game as Guilford finished with a commanding 55-39 advantage on the boards.  Oglesby, King, and 5-10 Hardin all finished with 10 rebounds each.  Platt led VWC's boarding effort with nine rebounds, followed by 5-7 Katie Tassa (Bristow/Manassas Osbourn Park) with eight, and Taylor with seven.

In addition to Platt's 14 points, which tied Guilford senior Kayla Adams (Rural Hall, N.C./North Forsyth) for high-game honors, the Marlins also received 11 points from rookie Crystal Strother (Accokeek, Md./Brandywine Gwynn Park). It was Strother's third double-digit scoring output in the last four games and the fourth in the last five for Platt.

Drew and Oglesby finished with 11 points each for Guilford.

Virginia Wesleyan returns to ODAC competition on Tuesday, Feb. 11, playing at Lynchburg College at 7 p.m.

--AMDG--